Car feature — HQ crowd pleaser

QUE 4 LOW

IT MIGHT NOT QUITE BE WHERE JASON DREAMS IT WILL GET, BUT THIS HQ IS STILL A CROWD PLEASER WORDS: MARCUS GIBSON PHOTOS: AARON MAI

Life — no one needs to tell you it’s busier than ever — you know that as you’re living it. But as fast paced and hectic as it may be, you still need to find some time to pursue those little pleasures in life. For Jason Svensson that pleasure has been building his HQ up over the past six years, chipping away at it, but not in the conventional tear it apart, and a decade later it’s finally finished approach. Instead it’s been piecemeal, so that he can still use it, which when looking at all the cars in our own sheds, many of which have not seen the road in years, seems like a bloody smart approach to project car management. And as he tells us, the build is far from over.

The HQ project started as many do by window shopping, lots and lots of window shopping, with Jason biding his time until not only the time was right, but the perfect machine came up. “As soon as I saw it, I was in love! Unfortunately, like so many other stories, I paid far too much for it — not bad compared to today’s values though — but it was a lot at the time,” Jason recalls. The HQ, while not a complete basket case, was far from the perfect car he’d seen through those rose-tinted glasses he was wearing while bidding on it, but the bones were good, so this meant it was time to get to work.

It’s been seven years since that purchase and over that time a lot has changed — changes that began with a full interior, a job that included custom-lined seats with cloth inserts to mimic the factory styling, custom door cards, a full bank of Autometer’s finest, and a custom dash cluster to house them in. It’s nothing over the top, just a full black-on-black affair with comfort on top of the priority list.

Next on the list was more power, and this came in the form of a spicey SBC built by mate Glen Munro. The 355 was actually originally built for his own ’69 C10, but when he went another route (even more power) the 355 was offered up and Jason jumped on it. The SBC features an Eagle Crank, 10:1 flat-top pistons with chromoly rings, a Comp XE274 cam, and up top a pair of SRP 64cc alloy heads, roller rockers, and Holley 650. The ignition side of the equation comes via MSD

The SBC features an Eagle Crank, 10:1 flat-top pistons with chromoly rings, a Comp XE274 cam, and up top a pair of SRP 64cc alloy heads, roller rockers, and Holley 650

CDi. Backing the SBC is a turbo 350 with BM stall. It’s a combo that although not dyno’d would be delivering more than enough to spin those rears, although for Jason having run the combo for a few years now he is starting to think bigger. “Next on the list is a bit more power up front. We all know what that means to carry that to the tyres out the back. So I’m constantly changing my mind on what direction to take — the LS option is also tempting but I’m not the biggest fan of the look of them in older cars. In the meantime, I’m pretty content with the awesome sounding fast-ish power plant until I settle on what direction to take.”

One of the most recent upgrades is what really drew our attention to the Aussie hauler, and it’s something we certainly don’t see on an HQ all that often. In fact, very few to our knowledge have ever been air bagged. While Jason is all too keen to get his hands dirty, this is one project he outsourced to the team at Kruzin Kustoms who specc’d it with one of the latest control systems — Ridetech’s E5 controller. Up front the stock coils have been replaced with Ridetech Shockwaves, a bag over shock configuration making packing easier. To do so the factory A-arms required some modification. Out back the original Holden swing arms now house Ridetech air bags in place of the springs. Along with some new brushes throughout and upgraded sway bars, the combination now sits the HQ right where Jason wanted it, ensuring those 18inch Torque Thrust tuck hard while parked up.

SPECS: 1974 HOLDEN HQ

Engine: Munro Performance built SBC 355cc, Eagle Crank, 10:1 flat-top pistons, chromoly rings, ARP main stud kit, Comp Cams XE274 camshaft (490-inch Lift 230/236), SRP 64cc alloy heads, Comp Cams roller rockers, Howard Hardened pushrods, Comp Cams timing chain kit, Edelbrock EPS Dual Plane manifold, Holley 650 Double pumper carb, ARP head bolt kit, Carter fuel pump, Custom alloy 80ltr fuel tank, MSD Pro Billet distributor, MSD Blaster SS Coil, MSD Street Fire CDI Multi spark ignition system, Pacemaker ceramic-coated headers, 3-inch exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers, Custom built radiator/fan shroud and support for modified Camaro radiator, radiator support fabricated from a piece of alloy angle I found at the dump and polished up (lol), Deloomed engine bay, smoothed firewall

Driveline: Turbo 350 trans, shift kitted, B&M stall converter, Salisbury diff, four-spider diff head (3.08)

Suspension: E5 Ridetech Air Ride system, (F) Ridetech Shockwaves, modified lower A-arms, strengthened top shock mounts, heavy duty sway bar, Nolathane bushes throughout, (R) Ride tech Air Bags Original swing arms, Nolathane bushes throughout Chassis: Modified cross member, driveshaft hoop

Brakes: Factory

Wheels/Tyres: (F) 18x8-inch American Racing Torque Thrust II, 235/40R18 Neutron NT512 (R) 18x9-inch American Racing Torque Thrust II, 265/35 R18 Neutron NT515

Exterior: GTS Guards, GTS Badges, GTS painted stripes

Interior: Custom lined seats, custom door cards, Momo steering wheel, B&M shifter, AutoMeter Carbon Fibre series gauges, custom made dash

With this latest round of modifications now complete, it’s back to enjoying the HQ as a family, and clocking up some kilometres while Jason decides the next project to tackle. “It’s still a long way to go before I’ll be 100 per cent happy with it, but I certainly can’t complain! There’s still plenty of things on the list to improve, but I’ll keep chipping away at building it up to satisfaction.” The end goal is getting everything to near perfection before it’s taken off the road for a big birthday to correct as Jason puts it “those terrible body gaps HQs are famous for”. At that stage it will also get a repaint and only then the HQ might be considered — dare we say it — finished.

But in the meantime there are events to attend, roads to travel, and summer is just around the corner. “Car shows throughout the country are always a great way to catch up with friends while seeing different ideas while providing plenty of inspiration. As a family we all love to get out as often as we can. My kids absolutely love it, so the kids are happy, Mum’s happy, and Dad’s happy. How often can you do that all at once?” It’s an approach many of us could learn a few things from. All too often the fun of the hobby is lost in years and years of paying bills, scraping knuckles, and tripping over boxes in the garage. This way you can have your cake and eat it too.

The end goal is getting everything to near perfection before it’s taken off the road for a big birthday to correct as Jason puts it “those terrible body gaps HQs are famous for”

DRIVER: JASON SVENSSON

Occupation: Owner/Director of Residential Building Companies

Location: Havelock North

Build time: Six years and counting

Length of ownership: Seven years

Thanks: Kendal, Dylan, and the team at Kruzin Kustoms; Glenn at Munro Performance Napier; and everyone else who has helped along the way